adeo Guides: The Edinburgh Festival

Edinburgh is the world’s leading festival city with 12 major annual festivals but August is a particularly special time of year in the capital of Scotland! It’s a time where the whole city is transformed into a venue for the world’s largest annual cultural festival, playing host to a hundreds of artists from all disciplines including theatre, music, comedy, opera and dance.

The festival was first established in 1947 in order to create ‘a platform for the flowering of the human spirit’ and enriching the cultural life of Scotland and it has been inspiring artists and enthusiasts from around the globe ever since. Today the festival includes 3000+ events, 25,000+ performers and 4.2 million attendances from 70 countries worldwide. The event is outsold only by the Olympics and the World Cup.

Today the so-called ‘Edinburgh Festival’ consists of about 10 separate festivals which are all held in the city at around the same time each year. The most notable are the Edinburgh International Festival which is devoted to classical music, theatre, opera and dance and the Edinburgh Fringe which is an open access festival and includes a wide variety of shows including comedy, circus and cabaret. World famous comedians including Hugh Laurie, Mike Myers and Eddie Izzard can credit the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with their big breaks.

Also popular is the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo which is a series of Military Tattoos performed by British Armed Forces, Commonwealth and International Military Bands on the esplanade of Edinburgh Castle. This extremely popular show has been seen by an average of 217,000 people each year since the 1970s and has sold out in advance for the last decade.

Other festivals taking place in August include the Edinburgh Art Festival, celebrating visual art, Edinburgh International Book Festival, Edinburgh International Film Festival and Edinburgh Mela, celebrating world music and dance. There is well and truly something for everyone!

Already a popular tourist destination, the population of Edinburgh quadruples during the Festival and touristy areas like the Royal Mile will be crowded with flyer pushing performers touting their shows. However, most visitors really enjoy the frenetic atmosphere, the buses crowded with performers in weird and wonderful costumes including Zulu dancers, Shetland fiddlers and Indian folkloric groups and the infinite choice of entertainment among the thousands of shows and events.

Want to visit Scotland during festival season? Why not try a adeo travel self-drive or rail tour? Pick one of the suggested itineraries from our website or contact us directly for a unique tailor-made itinerary.